Sure .. If I make those changes, would you like to upload the package?

Yes.

I am asking because the debconf, patches, etc. were all things that my

previous sponsor insisted on.

Developer's opinions about debconf usage varies quite a bit(like many
topics in Debian), so I'm not surprised. _My_ view is that debconf
usage should be minimized whenever possible and only in situations where
it greatly reduces complexity should it be used. Creating simple config
files which are never touched by debconf again does not fall into this
category :)